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OBAMA HEARTS 'RONNIE' - An Old New Song

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Bianca
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« on: January 18, 2008, 12:18:21 pm »








Barack Hearts Ronnie: An Old, New Song




By Erica Jong
Posted January 18, 2008
The Huffington Post

I've already said I'll work for the Democrat who gets the majority of delegates -- whether Hillary, Barack, Edwards or Kucinich. But if Barack is such a breath of fresh air, why is he raving about
Ronald Reagan?


Reagan -- the Hollywood red-baiter who rose from president of the Screen Actors Guild to president
of the United States even though he was already senile. Reagan who gave us tax cuts and "trickle down" economics that didn't work -- except for the rich and richer and richest. Reagan who let "mommy" (Nancy) run the white house with the aid of her astrologer. Reagan whose horse was smarter than he was.

Give me a break. One of the most disgusting sights in recent years was the genuflecting before this total fraud that went on at his funeral. And the hypocritical bulls**t being trumpeted by the networks! Where were all the actors and writers and directors whose lives he ruined? I guess they were dead. But -- what, me worry? -- in America nobody knows one crumb of history, so Ronald Reagan's vicious red baiting, how he rose to prominence by smearing other actors and writers and directors, was totally forgotten.

I suppose Mr. Obama has forgotten too--scholar of history that he is.

Perhaps he was not alive in the 50s so he knows nothing about it -- the Army-McCarthy hearings, the smearing of creative artists who donated to Spanish Civil War Relief even though they were not "card-carrying" communists. They happened, like my parents, and their friends, to have given money to help little Spanish children, orphaned by the Spanish Civil War -- and ever after they trembled lest Ronnie Reagan and his ilk witch-hunt them.

What charity have you given to that some future McCarthy might call a "commie front"? What charity have you supported that some future Ronnie Reagan might out you for, claiming you were a disloyal American? Doctors without Borders? Is it a leftist sham? Or, since we don't have commies any more, is it non-patriotic because it started in France and before Sarko "the French were, cheese eating surrender monkeys"?

Remember "Freedom Fries" you guys?

So Mr. Obama is not such a new style politician after all. He's just a politician -- invoking Ronnie Reagan as if he were God Almighty, using his name as code as the Repugnicans do, trying to pump himself up as a man of the people by mentioning this total fraud as a hero.

I don't mind. Politicians are politicians and they do their thing -- praising the popular, putting down the unpopular -- invoking Reagan for his geniality -- which was probably just dementia. But Americans don't remember the past -- so we are doomed to repeat it.

I want a president who is not a politician and not a hypocrite -- but I don't see such a candidate around.

They all pander -- except Kucinich -- but he probably panders too and I just don't know it because of the thin coverage in the so-called mainstream media.

Barack, I'll vote for you if you get the nomination. And I'll work for you, too. I'll talk to my right wing neighbors in south- eastern Connecticut where I have voted democratic for three decades -- (a very short line).

My neighbors vote for Representative Christopher Shays who we vainly tried to replace with Democratic/feminist/anti-war Diane Farrell, and Senator Joe Lieberman, who is not good for the Jews. And who is certainly not a Democrat. Nor anti-war, nor anything really but a cynical politician. So are they all. Who else runs the gauntlet of a punishing campaign?

My Connecticut neighbors may still think the GOP will protect them from radical Islam. They may still hope the GOP will get rid of inheritance tax. They love their tax cuts more than they love their planet. They love their children, but they'd rather leave them money -- because, hey, in America, money is all we have to keep the wolf from the door.

I will talk to them about greening the planet (for real not just oil company PR) and about the little children maimed and killed in Iraq and about who's really protecting America rather than just doing photo ops. I will try my hardest for the democratic nominee even though many of my neighbors have never voted democratic in their lives.

But let's get real: every politician raises money and every politician (including Barack Obama) wants to get elected more than he wants to tell the whole truth. A pure, new politician? I don't think so. The Ronnie Reagan reference gives him away. He knows the election will be a popularity contest in benighted America, and he's not giving up anything he thinks might get him into the pop-u-lar people clique.

He's running for president of the High School G.O. They all are. Let's not romanticize any of them --not dead red-baiter Ronnie Reagan, nor almost-dead former POW McCain, nor hard-working feminist Hillary who failed to leave Bill because she loved him and she knew she'd never find another man as clever (and smart women like smart men -- even if they are sex addicts), nor rich-lawyer-populist John Edwards, nor handsome Harvard man Barack with his perfect white/black background and his adorable girls.



Hey --i f you want a non-politician, folks, you can't vote for anyone.

And that's not a good idea either.


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Bianca
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« Reply #1 on: January 18, 2008, 12:25:18 pm »









OBAMA HEARTS REAGAN
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« Reply #2 on: January 18, 2008, 02:10:01 pm »

Once again, the media takes a comment and totally distorts it for political gain.  If you read Obama's statement, he mentioned nothing about Reagan's policies, but rather referred to him as a "transitional figure in the way that Nixon and Clinton were not."

Nothing about Reagan's policies about AIDS, homelessness, trickle down economics or anything.

It also happens to be the truth. Reagan did (sadly enough) manage to make the country more conservative for a time.  Since then, people have found out what conservatism is all about and aren't as keen on it.
« Last Edit: January 18, 2008, 02:11:48 pm by 4th Horseman of the Apocalypse » Report Spam   Logged



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« Reply #3 on: January 18, 2008, 02:15:06 pm »

By the way, before Erica Long goes off on Obama, it might have been a good idea for her to include what his original statement in her article, which it was not!  Roll Eyes
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The Lamb of God, or Lion of Judah, opens the first four of the seven seals, which summons forth four beings that ride out on white, red, black, and pale horses:  Conquest, War, Famine, and Death.
Bianca
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« Reply #4 on: January 18, 2008, 03:15:09 pm »








                                                    E R I C A   J O N G




Author   


Erica Jong is the author of eight novels including

Fear of Flying; Fanny, Being the True History of the Adventures of Fanny Hackabout-Jones;
Shylock's Daughter; Inventing Memory, a Novel of Mothers and Daughters; and Sappho's Leap.

Several of her novels have been worldwide bestsellers. Her other books include the nonfiction works Fear of Fifty: A Midlife Memoir; The Devil at Large, a study of Henry Miller; Witches; and What Do Women Want; and six volumes of poetry.
 
 
« Last Edit: January 18, 2008, 03:20:35 pm by Bianca » Report Spam   Logged

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« Reply #5 on: January 18, 2008, 03:40:36 pm »





Reagan was the beginning of our long national nightmare. Because of his legacy, we are where we are,
which isn't a good thing.

Praising Reagan, in any context, is frightening and demonstrates how clueless Obama is about that era.

For those who truly care about those issues which Reagan trashed, like the environment, makes one
wonder whether Barack is more interested in power than substance.

Reagan may have been consequential, but then so were Mussolini and Hitler, both of whom generated considerable optimism for which their publics were ready. I doubt any mainstream politician would mention
either of them as exemplars of change.

FDR was consequential, hopeful, optimistic, and a Democrat in both name and policy. Why didn't Obama use
him as a paragon of change as so many Democrats have in the past? Image politics and triangulation are
why, the very sins that have inflicted us with G.W. Bush.

It's just pandering pure and simple.

The fact is, our corporate media have fostered the myth of Reagan and the politics of image in general.

Obama praising Reagan is pure politics of image -- no more honest than Bush's "compassionate conservatism".


I find it reprehensible.

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« Reply #6 on: January 18, 2008, 04:12:46 pm »










When I heard Obama refer to Reagan, three things came to my mind :



First, I thought how depressing it was to see the air traffic controllers get fired when they
attempted to strike.

Second, I thought about the racist comments Reagan made about "welfare queens in their
big fancy cars buying oranges with food stamps".

Third, I thought about the Iran-Contra debacle, the deliberate disregard of Congressional
law by people Reagan delegated power to.





Ronald Reagan is dead and far be it from me to criticize the dead, but things that Reagan
supported have led to the systematic dismantling of civil rights, lowered economic prospects
of the middle class, and the impoverishment of the working class.

I also thought about Obama's statement that he wasn't going to be "hands on", but would
select people to delegate power to, while he, himself, would provide the "inspiration". Sounds
like a good recipe for plausible deniability in the making here, something that Ronald Reagan
perfected during his time as President.



The fact is that if the man doesn't understand that referring to his efforts in light of Reagan is

HIGHLY OFFENSIVE to those of us who actually lived through the travesty that was the "Raygun

administration", then he has NO BUSINESS running for president.
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« Reply #7 on: January 18, 2008, 06:29:41 pm »







                                     Obama appropriates the apocalyptic optimism of Ron Reagan





by Weldon Berger |
January 18, 2008

Ronald Reagan killed people, and he killed ideals.

He began his campaign for the presidency with a paean to states' rights in Philadelphia, Mississippi, where that cause—the right to trample the rights of others—had claimed the lives of three civil rights activists barely more than fifteen years earlier.

In Central America, he painted nun-raping, dope dealing thugs with the high gloss of Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson as they slaughtered tens of thousands of people, in Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala, who only wanted to live their lives in peace.

Reagan supported the racist apartheid regime in South Africa; he killed Congressional sanctions against Iraq sparked by Saddam Hussein's use of poison gas against the Kurds; he mounted an assault on regulatory
structures that resulted in, among other disasters, a trillion-dollar implosion of the savings and loan industry.

When the AIDS epidemic took root and spread in this country, he stood by and did nothing while victims, advocates and scientists begged for research money and government assistance.

He did all that, and more, and he called it, with an easy smile, "Morning in America." Barack Obama thinks
Reagan appealed to an overwhelming urge among Americans toward clarity and optimism and "a return to
that sense of dynamism and entrepreneurship that had been missing."

But what he really appealed to was the American urge to escape introspection, to feel good about ourselves
and our country, to feel comfortable about abandoning any sense of responsibilty for tiresome, less fortunate others. He told Americans they were enshackled by government regulations and taxes, by unions, by an unnecessary regard for civil rights. It was the reactionary version of

"If it feels good, do it."

It was an easy sale by a great salesman, and it was a disaster, one that would have been far worse absent
the ability of partisan Democrats and moderate Republicans in Congress—the latter still existed in those days—
to override some of Reagan's vetoes.

Obama wasn't endorsing the outcome of Reagan's pitch, but he seems not to recognize that the pitch and
the outcome were inseparable, that Reagan's "clarity" and "optimism" were the thin, leading wedge of a
malevolent effort to degrade government and our political culture that has reached apotheosis in the Bush administration; that Ronald Reagan and George Bush are, if we're lucky enough to get a president who can
kill the Reagan legacy, bookends.

There may be similarities between the electoral climates of 1980 and 2008, but assigning any virtue to one
of the all-time great 'bait and switch' campaigns is nauseating, and Obama's suggestion that there are echoes
of Reagan in what he offers is at least discouraging if not a bit scary.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~






Liberal Reaganism - NYET!




"Obama's suggestion that there are echoes of Reagan in what he offers is at least discouraging if

not a bit scary."



It certainly is, and I dread any liberal counterpart to Reaganism - even if practiced by such a
peace-loving, hopeful, innocuous gent as Obama. In the end, it is a machination to take the
national eye off the ball of severe problems, or sugarcoat them into oblivion. It also configures
from the get go a definite "handicap" for those who rail against corporate or other transgressions
- exposing us as somewhat "plague-infested" by comparison to the happy Pollyannas.

Obama is certainly a likeable guy, and he sounds the right notes. That doesn't mean he is fit to be
president - or even the Mayor of Kokomo. It merely means he has a positive-'Morning in America'
shtick like Reagan.

Reagan, as Robert Ornstein notes ('New World, New Mind'), methodically cultivated an avuncular
pose and deprecating humor in combination with an upbeat demeanor that caught people's critical
thinking centers flat-footed. (The American penchant for false optimism and bravado already predis-
posed this). So, they ended up giving him a pass on almost everything.

It is arguable that a President Obama - using the same persona and PR - could get away with tons
of stuff as well. Just keep those eyes beaming and smile wide - and 'Hey, what'd he say?' 'Doesn't
matter! No biggie! Looka the smile from them pearly whites!'

Reagan himself exploited this faux charm to get away with the most outrageous statements, such
as the time he averred (in 1983) that "submarine fired missiles could be re-called", because people's
critical brains were put on hold by his folksy, disarming charisma and charm. Bush does the same,
but with a somewhat more rube -fashioned dynamic.

Obama is different in the sense that his charisma is more sophisticated and subtle - hence able
to reach out and snare more sophisticated minds. Look at the huge college following he has!
These kids are so caught up in the freshness meme and the "new air" they lose sight of the
cautionary notes.

In the end, as much as I like Obama's cheery themes, I am still highly distrustful. Distrustful
because we have - or rather will - inside of a year - have left one of the most perfidious eras
in American history. An era - ruled by criminal whackjobs- that has done immense damage that
may take decades to repair.

Sweeping that damage under the rug will not be the Rx we need to get this nation back to where
it needs to be. I will need to see a lot more demonstration of mettle out of Obama, and attention
to serious details, before I embrace him as "the One".



Submitted by

BajanMan
January 18, 2008



http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/12244
Smirking Chimp.com
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« Reply #8 on: January 18, 2008, 08:30:54 pm »

Quote
The fact is that if the man doesn't understand that referring to his efforts in light of Reagan is

HIGHLY OFFENSIVE to those of us who actually lived through the travesty that was the "Raygun

administration", then he has NO BUSINESS running for president.


Reagan's policies were a travesty, but there is no denying that he created a spirit of optimism about Amercia. Contrast with Jimmy Carter, who preferred to blame the American people themselves for their problems (witness, Carter's "Malaise" speech)  Given a choice between a positive outlook and a negative one, the American people will always take the positive one.

As for Obama not bashing Reagan (or whatever point you wanted to make about that), the Clintons have spoken favorably about Reagan at times in the past, too.

As for Barack Obama having no business running for President because he didn't bash Reagan, I am personally still wondering at what makes Hillary anymore qualified by that same criteria. Being First Lady doesn't make someone qualified (or else Laura Bush would be touted as a candidate) and her voting record is similar to many a Republicans.'

Hillary is a champion of the corporations, as opposed to the people.



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« Reply #9 on: January 18, 2008, 08:34:07 pm »

Quote
I also thought about Obama's statement that he wasn't going to be "hands on", but would
select people to delegate power to, while he, himself, would provide the "inspiration". Sounds
like a good recipe for plausible deniability in the making here, something that Ronald Reagan
perfected during his time as President.

The flip side of that is to have an obsessive micro-manager, who needs to be kept up on every little detail.  Hillary would seem to fit that description.  If you have ever worked for someone like that, you would know that they are the worst personality type to work for, bar none.
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« Reply #10 on: January 18, 2008, 09:00:55 pm »

http://youtube.com/watch?v=dcFp1k3Buew
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« Reply #11 on: January 18, 2008, 09:39:40 pm »







QUOTE:


"As for Obama not bashing Reagan (or whatever point you wanted to make about that), the Clintons have spoken favorably about Reagan at times in the past, too."



I have NOT brought up the Clintons at all.


Nobody expected Obama to bash Reagan. 

If he needed to mention someone, FDR was consequential, hopeful, optimistic, and a
Democrat in both name and policy. Why didn't Obama use him as a paragon of change
as so many Democrats have in the past?


Image politics and triangulation are why, the very sins that have inflicted us with G.W. Bush.

It's just pandering pure and simple.


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« Reply #12 on: January 18, 2008, 09:45:32 pm »







Quote
I also thought about Obama's statement that he wasn't going to be "hands on", but would
select people to delegate power to, while he, himself, would provide the "inspiration". Sounds
like a good recipe for plausible deniability in the making here, something that Ronald Reagan
perfected during his time as President.

The flip side of that is to have an obsessive micro-manager, who needs to be kept up on every little detail.  Hillary would seem to fit that description.  If you have ever worked for someone like that, you would know that they are the worst personality type to work for, bar none.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Again, I am not championing Hilary, here.  As a matter of fact, Obama and Hillary are made out of
the 'same cloth', as far as I am concerned.


Personally, I am sick and tired of a 'delegating president'.  It would be good for a change, to have
a micro-manager.  The shape this country is in, we certainly could use one.
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« Reply #13 on: January 19, 2008, 01:33:44 am »

"Personally, I am sick and tired of a 'delegating president'.  It would be good for a change, to have a micro-manager."

Actually, Cheney (the real President) happens to be quite the micro-manager.  So, an argument can be made that we have that now and look how it's turned out. In the Bush Administration, one has to be dressed neatly, always on time to meetings, and never dissent from the plans of the people in charge.  We don't need a micro-manager, we need people who are more honest, and not simply politicians.
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The Lamb of God, or Lion of Judah, opens the first four of the seven seals, which summons forth four beings that ride out on white, red, black, and pale horses:  Conquest, War, Famine, and Death.
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« Reply #14 on: January 19, 2008, 01:41:41 am »

"Image politics and triangulation are why, the very sins that have inflicted us with G.W. Bush.

It's just pandering pure and simple."


All politicians pander, everyone of them - FDR, TR, Kennedy, Clinton, Reagan. How else do you think they get votes?

In the words of a friend of mine, who also brought this point up:

Obama is showing that he is in fact...a unifier. Thats why there are actually Republicans who like him and plenty of independents that will vote for him. You can be FOR your party without attacking and loathing the other side. Its a new concept I know, but then...its a new day.

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The Lamb of God, or Lion of Judah, opens the first four of the seven seals, which summons forth four beings that ride out on white, red, black, and pale horses:  Conquest, War, Famine, and Death.
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